Farming Shed Archives

Your Barn, Your Way

KiwiSpan has been paving the way in the New Zealand outdoor building and shed market since the early 2000s. Whilst KiwiSpan started out with the kiwi dream of building the very best shed, over the years we have innovated into many different types of outdoor buildings to suit the New Zealand landscape, for example, a growing trend is the popularity of farm sheds and barns.

What is a barn?

A barn by definition is a large building used by farmers to store equipment or crops. Depending on whether it is a hay barn, or machinery storage shed, a barn’s framing system is one of the critical elements to maximising the use of your new space.

The second important element in building a barn in a rural location is that it is made to last. The KiwiSpan range of farm sheds and barns have all been designed with New Zealand’s harsh environment in mind, built with hard-wearing durable steel of a higher spec than many other options in the market, and by expert builders with years of experience. So you can rest assured your KiwiSpan shed will stand the test of time.

How can I customise my barn?

Perhaps the most exciting feature is that your barn can be customised to your exact farming or lifestyle requirements. Optional extra’s include partition walls, awnings, garaports, as well as being able to design a variety of sizes, lengths and heights.

‘Barn living’ has become an international trend overseas, with more and more people leaving their city surroundings for a simpler life. KiwiSpan’s barns can be customised to include a home or hobby office or even a “man” cave. Your new barn can also easily be personalized with different choices in colour cladding, different window and door choices. This trend is growing in popularity because it represents the best of both worlds – a functional working space for your equipment or farm supplies, coupled with space that you can make your own – we’re thinking a man/ she-cave or new office.

No Consents Required

One of the hardest and most complex parts of building or renovating is the consent process and dealing with the council, but there has been some exciting news for homeowners in late 2020.

Recent changes mean that low-risk building work, such as sheds, carports and sleepouts, in many cases no longer need council consent to be built.

So if you’re considering a new addition to your home or property, it’s important to note that in a majority of cases, for the new building work not to require Council consent, these must be built by a manufacturer like KiwiSpan, or a licensed builder. With that in mind here are some options that no longer require Council consent;

Buildings up to a maximum floor area of 30 metres – (these still can be built by non-professionals but require restrictions on building materials in accordance with the Building Code)
Ground Floor Veranda’s or Awnings up to 30 metres
Carports up to 40 metres
Single-storey pole sheds and hay barns up to 110 square metres (but only in rural zones).

It’s important to note that any plumbing work to a new or current building still requires a building consent, and any electrical work will still have to be carried out by a registered electrician. Different councils can also have different local by-laws but some, like Auckland Council, have a handy online tool to check if your shed needs consent

For property owners, this has been welcome news, as it will save time and money when thinking about a new building or addition with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) predicting it will cut out the need for over 9000 consents and $18m worth of consent fees for homeowners.

However, it is also important to note that KiwiSpan is available to ensure that whatever your building size, shape or usage, that you will fully comply with the local council regulations before we commence building. Because KiwiSpan builds are entirely customised, we can give you a world of possibilities.

Whether it’s a shed, farm barn or carport, KiwiSpan has the solution for you.

Why Custom is Always King

These days, there are more options than ever when it comes to building and owning a shed. And if you’ve been thinking about becoming a shed owner, you’ve probably taken a gander at some of the different options on offer.

We’re pretty confident that custom made sheds (such as ours) are still the way to go (and we’re not being biased, we promise).

Here’s why:

Customizable to hobbies

Firstly, the great thing about getting a custom shed means it’s made specifically for you. Sure, you might not be the only person who plans on getting a shed, but your specific needs could be totally different from those of the next shed owner.

Are you looking for a new home office space? We can do that. Or maybe you’re hoping to make your shed into a space for that specific hobby of yours. Talk to us, we can probably offer plenty of customisation that’ll help you do what you want to do. Pre-built options, on the other hand, can only offer a one-size-fits-all approach. And sometimes – that’s not enough.

Colour and design

Another advantage of getting a custom shed made for you is that you get some input on the design and colour. KiwiSpan has several design options on offer.

Perhaps you’re looking to match your home or another building on the property. Or maybe you have a particular colour in mind?

We can help you implement any design choices you’d like to see with your shed, all in order to bring to life something that is truly yours.

Durability

We pride our sheds on their ability to withstand the elements too.

Despite its relatively small size, New Zealand weather can vary pretty drastically depending on the region you’re in. And since most places in the country are relatively close to the water, buildings have to be resistant to high levels of salt in our air. Furthermore, due to that big old hole in the ozone layer above us, we’ve also got to make buildings that can stand intense, direct UV rays.

In short – buildings in New Zealand need to be built to withstand the elements. We understand this and ensure our sheds are always up to the task.

We speak from experience when we say owning a shed is awesome – but if you are having to replace or perform unneeded maintenance each passing year, that feeling will diminish in no time.

Get a shed that can hold its own against whatever the environment throws at it – we know ours can.

Convinced? Feel free to browse our range of sheds and check our 3D shed designer to explore some of the possibilities on offer here.

It’s Now Easier to get a Barn (and Why You Should Consider it)

Hay there, have you heard the good news about barns?

If not, we’d love to tell you about it.

Building a barn is now easier.

This used to be a bit of a process. It wasn’t just about finding land and building materials. You also had to acquire a building consent. This was a process that would take time, money, resources and require several permissions.

All this was before you can even think about building the thing.

However, it’s been announced that single-story barns under 110m2 are now exempt from this requirement. Provided you stick to those specs, you’re good to go.

The only other catch is that you actually have to use the barn as a barn. So, as cool as converted barn bars/wedding venues/stores are, you’ll still need a building consent for this kind of work.

But it’s worth noting that this exemption covers any sort of structure (enclosed, semi-enclosed or open) used for farming-related activities in rural areas, not just hay barns (despite the earlier pun).

Okay, that’s great – but why should you care?

Well, despite the stereotypical idea of an old, red wooden building found on old-timey farms, modern sheds are actually an incredibly useful utility building with a range of valuable uses. KiwiSpan offers a wide range of custom barn solutions for a multitude of uses.

Storing livestock

So using a barn as a place for keeping various animals is probably the most obvious one, but you don’t necessarily need to be a livestock farmer to make use of this.

Raising animals can not only be a profitable, and fun activity. Studies have also shown that raising children around animals can help with allergy immunities and self-confidence.

More and more people are choosing to raise chickens (scrambled eggs for breakfast anymore?), and for all the rider’s out there – barns can also serve well as a stable for horses as well.

Thanks to the recent influx of “cute cow playing with beach ball” videos online (Who would’ve thought that cats’ time in the spotlight was limited?), adopting a cow as a pet rather than a future meal has also become more popular in recent years.

Actually, storing a lot of things.

If you have a larger property to maintain, then a barn is the perfect place to store some of your larger equipment, such as ride-on lawnmowers, without cluttering up the garage.

KiwiSpan barns are also much more weather resistant and much more stylish than the old weighted tarpaulin solution too. In fact, even if you don’t have a fleet of farming machinery to keep out of the rain, a barn can make for a pretty solid storage option for any property, and it’s not all about work.

Barns provide plenty of storage for play too. Keeping your toys, as you can store quad bikes, cars and jet skis and boats

Interested? Get in touch with us to see if your planned shed meets these requirements. Or feel free to browse our range of barns and other shed solutions here.